Under the Moonlight
by Eye of a Hawk
Summary: Artemis and Luna are never really understood no matter what world they inhabit. But when they discover each other's penchant for consuming curiosity, they create a world of their own, something not quite magical and not quite rational.
1. Chapter 1

If you listen closely, my friend, you will hear a great many things in the halls of Hogwarts that have passed over the heads of generations of students and staff alike.

There are very few who ever come to Hogwarts who truly delve into the depths and mysteries of magic. Most purebloods enter with the supreme arrogance of the entitled, who have never once questioned the existence nor origin nor their right to that power. If it has endured until now, surely it would not forsake us now. Their forever only seems to stretch back as far as the birth of their great family.

And for the Muggleborn, oh, the poor, hopeful Muggleborns, with shinning eyes and grandiose dreams. Introduced later than their counterparts, but still young enough to believe anything they're told about this new, glittering world. They are too little worldly to question authority, to see everything with a skeptical eye and taste with a grain of salt. They succumb so easily to the indoctrination. The little they learn in their Muggle schools falls away. Science is taught only when magic doesn't exist to explain away fallacies. Math, logic, and the scientific method have no place in a world with wands and spells and painless answers. Little by little the great Wizarding school chips away at what their school tried to nurture, those fragile, budding thinkers.

Who is there immune to the spell? Gryffindors? Brash leaders with unwavering ideals, who never take the time to see, perhaps not all is as it seems?

Slytherins? Whose ambitions draw them to the quickest, dirtiest means of power?

Hufflepuffs? Whose overriding sense of group loyalty ensures that no one questions the status quo_?_

Or the dear Ravenclaws, who thirst for knowledge handed out freely in _Patented Self-Refilling Glasses_ and are hard-set against original research and fieldwork. Perhaps if they had any basis for logical investigation in place of blind belief, there might have remained some hope.

Given the choice between the two worlds, at the end of their school years, lifetimers and indoctrinated alike scoff, _Magic? Well of course! Only the insane would forsake the Wizarding World._

_ We're lucky just to be here._ is the unspoken sentiment.

If even a mere modicum of thought remained in the minds of one of those students, perhaps someone, some unwavering, persevering Muggleborn might have stopped at the threshold, turned around and said, _I know how to make the Wizarding World a better place._ They might have gone back inside, made their way past the main staircase and past the Great Hall, turned down the second hallway, and reached the first door to the left. They could have gone inside, sat down and rewritten the entire outdated Muggle Studies curriculum, and made a difference.

But no one did.

If someone had, they might have noticed the signs of potential in young Tom Riddle. If someone had, they might have noticed his hope and budding idealism and his already brilliant mind. If someone had tried to make a difference, they might have had an inkling of what first-year Luna Lovegood is talking about when she came in speaking about genes and environmentally-stimulated mutations.

But no one did.


	2. Chapter 2

When the Sorting Hat alighted on Luna Lovegood's head, it saw a vast intellect, a bibliophile's regard for books, and a photographic memory. But if a mere spell had been able to understand the content of the thoughts swirling around her mind, the kindest thing it could have done would have been sending her back to the Muggle World, and the friend there who could have harnessed the vast potential and nurtured the growing genius inside.

So no one notices when Luna stops talking about photosynthesis and chlorophyll in Herbology, and astrophysics in Astronomy, or psychological analysis in DADA. But even so, she realizes her mistake too late. While surrounded by Ravenclaws, pureblood, half-blood and Muggleborn alike, she still lacks an equal-minded partner in which to confide.

No one notices when she begins describing beings that never existed, rather than concepts beyond their own limited thinking. For the Wizarding World, there is nothing beyond their understanding. She finds a perverse amusement in fabricating mythical titles no one at Hogwarts would ever understand. When she receives her monthly Quibbler (with her copy of _Psychology Today _rolled up carefully inside) and saw the article by Dr. C. Niall DeMencha, she wants to laugh hysterically. And she carefully cuts out and tapes the article from _Physics _by Emmesey Squire under the Heliopath illustration from the January edition.


	3. Chapter 3

She meets him when she is strolling through the park one day. He is sitting on a bench, in normal enough cloths, but holds himself curiously stiffly. She probably would have passed him by, but there is a large man nearby who spends an inordinate amount of time looking everywhere but at the boy and she'd just finished her first Agatha Christie mystery novel. She would have left well enough lie, were the boy not so unhealthy pale. She realizes he, too, has seen the man.

The first odd thing she notices about the boy as she grabs his wrist and, chatting inanely, dashes off, is that he seems utterly shocked by her simple touch. The second is that the man reacts instantly when she seizes the boy, and he moves terrifyingly fast.

The third thing she notices is boy's lack of reaction when they suddenly disappear under her less-than-accidental magic. Perhaps he is one of the few other magic children who brave the Muggle world. A half-blood?

He smirks at the man's panic. Then he turns to her. _You have the skills to vanish me from under the eyes of my bodyguard._ he states matter-of-factly. He eyes her critically. She returns the look calmly. At last he says, rather reluctantly, _I suggest that you return me to visibility before Butler is forced to create a scene. I doubt you wish many people to know of your ability._

Slowly, Luna drops her spell. She makes to leave before the scary man reaches them but it is the boy's turn to clamp down firmly on her wrist. He wants an explanation.

_I'm not allowed to tell non-magicals_ she tells him firmly. He doesn't blink. _Alright. Don't tell me. Do you visit here often? I will return tomorrow._

He does, as does she. They are horribly precocious for a pair of six year-olds. They waste no time in probing the extent of her powers. Their reign of terror over the playground is severe, but short lived. There are more fascinating thing to explore.


	4. Chapter 4

They practically live at the park until Luna turns eight and "suggests" greater amounts of freedom to her latest foster family. Artemis spends nearly a week trying to convince her to do the same to his parents, but she stands firm, with Butler's complete support. The Fowl parents make her nervous in a way she cannot explain and she avoids them at all costs.

They study whatever catches their fancy for as long as they wish. Some subjects have economic implications. Others are utterly frivolous. Until the day comes that Artemis Fowl I is assailed en-route to Russia and Artemis' priority becomes recovering his father and their lost fortune.

Mrs. Fowl doesn't need Luna's help to lose all interest in the outside world and soon Artemis is left to his own devices. His single-minded devotion becomes focused on two matters- manners of tracking his father and manners of restoring their former fortunes. Luna becomes the key to both problems and they dive into their studies of magic, attempting to separate truth from myth and flat-out fabrication.

What they discover is a type of magic unlike their understanding of Luna's abilities. They uncover the Faeries, beings who escaped underground to survive the relentless onslaught of humanity millennia ago. Their Book discloses the Faerie People's greatest secrets but fails to explain the disparities between magics.


	5. Chapter 5

Then comes the Horrible Day her Hogwarts letter arrives. The owl lands outside the library window. There is no chance to conceal it, and Artemis is obstinate.

_We will never have a better chance to finally understand both magics._ he cajoles her. _Imagine what we could learn- both halves of the same lost civilization, separated eons ago and evolving ever since. Surely there cannot be _two _sources of magic hidden for all time._

She lets his logic sway her, muttering halfhearted excuses and never fully expressing her true reluctance.

How can she go seven years without someone to match her intellect? How can she let him execute their plans without her?

But he is too coldhearted to realize what she does. That they will each be alone. Isolated. Lonely.

_And _Scotland_,_ she grumbles. _Surely if they have the magic they claim, they could put there school somewhere a little less out of the way._

Artemis ignores her.

They spend the rest of the week in frigid silences outside the lab, though neither is willing let even this fracture the business-side of their relationship.


	6. Chapter 6

Civility returns over the hours they spend puzzled by the effects of magic on their technology. Luna sneaks a camera into Diagon Alley at the soonest opportunity, and feels more than a little smug as Artemis rages over the melted tape.

She treasures that first sight of the heart of the Wizarding World deep in her heart even after Artemis makes her go through reams of paper, sketching everything as best she can recall.

She produces a Galleon for his inspection, and gleefully joins in his economic speculations. She isn't sure whether Artemis is more delighted or miffed when she finishes her research of Wizarding law and banking, and discovers every scam of theirs is, in fact, legal. He would put his fairy project aside for the easy gold did she not remind him of his determination to study both magics.

And they spend an absurd percentage of the annual Fowl income buying every book she can obtain. They include a Wizarding cottage (a nice one, of course, since it is under a Fowl alias) so as to avoid having the delivery owls set off the alarms. Butler refurbishes the main library fireplace so they could set up a makeshift (and highly illegal) Floo connection between the cottage and the Manor.

Later they add a separate potions lab after Luna, with her nose firmly imbedded in a book, hands Artemis the wrong vile. The resulting explosion sets them back 3 weeks.


	7. Chapter 7

Luna faintly recollects things she sees- the robes in Diagon Alley (though they seem dull-colored), the sleek flying brooms (remembering the sensation of wind in her hair), and several anthologies of Wizarding fairy tales she secretly picks up and keeps in her workroom. She must have come from a Wizarding family, she decides after several weeks of investigation. Magic could easily have ignited the explosion that killed her parents and called the Muggle Child Services down upon her burning home.

She prefers not to dwell the following succession of foster homes and adopted families that brought her to Ireland and Artemis. She does briefly wonder how the wizards found her after Artemis erased her identity from the files. It is the easiest way to deal with her dependent minor status without the constant threat of being relocated. It gives her the freedom she needs, as they were in complete agreement that neither of them wanted the other as family. Never mind that she already lives in Fowl Manor for all practical purposes; the Wizarding World seems to consider Fowl Manor her official address, which implies some interesting potential issues.


	8. Chapter 8

Luna and Butler journey to Kings Cross Station several weeks before the start of the year to plant a network of cameras and sensors around platforms 9 and 10. Neither of them can decipher from the letter where the supposed Platform 9 ¾ is, and it is with trepidation on September 1st that they stand outside the station watching on various cell phone screens the different feeds.

_There!_ Artemis finally says. He rewinds the feed to show a family with several carts. There is a young boy gripping his trolley rather tightly. _Just run, if you're nervous_. His older sibling says, before disappearing in front of the barrier. _It can't be a spell._ Artemis tells her impatiently. _Elsewise how would the Muggleborns and their families find the platform?_ Luna is rather disgruntled that he expects her to run at a brick barrier, no questions asked. But they can never stay mad at each other for long, not when there is knowledge to be gained.

_You will have to rewire your phone once you get there._ Artemis reminds her outside the platform. _You might as well send owls until you have a working prototype. I'm afraid we were unable to test it in areas of high magical radiation without arousing suspicions. _ No one much catch wind of such financial opportunities, is the unspoken message.

Luna spends the majority of the trip with her nose buried in a magazine. After a disastrous introduction to her seatmates, only the redheaded girl doesn't seem to consider her a complete freak. Luna retreats into _Physics World_ and only places it down when they change robes. She doesn't look up from her reading when they nervously speculate about the Sorting process, and it instantly marks her as a Ravenclaw snob. In spite of it all, she is unconcerned, blithely assuming that she will find someone among the Ravenclaws who is likewise open minded and research oriented.

She is wrong. She only finds jealousy and scorn.


	9. Chapter 9

In response she ignores her petty classmates to instead focus her skills to the task of building a magic-resistant electronics (her phone still refuses to work and Artemis is impatient). They laugh at her shyness. She doesn't correct them.

There is, however, one person who won't leave her alone. The first joint Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Transfiguration class finds Luna seated next to the redheaded girl from the train. By now the stories of Luna "Loony" Lovegood have flown around the school. But the young girl gives her the same sincere smile from the train.

Luna is unaccustomed to a relationship not based in business or mutual loneliness. She pulls out her issues of _Psychology_ and even adds a subscription to one of those trashy teen magazines. Neither of them helps her unravel the Weasley Girl's motives. So she researches the girl herself then, and quickly uncovers the past.

_She's compensating._ Luna realized._ She made me her charity case to hide her own insecurities._ Then she shoves down the instant annoyance that is born of overexposure to Artemis. _I'm sure she doesn't realize it. Perhaps she finds a kindred spirit in me. She connects to outcasts. Or maybe she requires someone to mother._

So Luna does a very un-Artemis-like thing and lets their friendship persist. Her friend can hardly compare to Luna's intellect (and fails to notice when her ramblings change from actual science to fantasy) but she had an instinctual empathetic ability to connect with people and draw out their hidden secrets and wounds.


	10. Chapter 10

Luna begins to use Ginny to gather information on the Wizarding World. She refrains from referring to the Weasley girl as a friend in her missives to Artemis. He accepts Ginny as Luna's informant; he assumes her useful but none to bright.

She eventually manages to reconstruct her phone successfully, several months after arriving. Artemis is displeased by the delay, but she had to replace the majority of parts with magical conduits. Now she fears it will fail outside the Wizarding World. Artemis tells her to keep working.

_There must be a more efficient way to spell-proof technology. _Artemis muses in one missive._ The Fae of the underworld have managed to harness both their innate magic and advanced technology to their will. I am close to acquiring some for further study. _Luna makes a mental note to send him any information she can locate about the Wizarding world's fairy folk- myths or facts. The more she sees of the magical world, the more she realizes how little they know of the Fairy People's brand of magic. Reading spells out of a book didn't guarantee instant success. Likewise, the Book could be missing vital details that came only with practice.


	11. Chapter 11

She kept up a constant stream of information for Artemis on her phone, and in return, he sent her the information he dug up about the Fairy People. She is the first to decipher their tongue, using the Ancient Runes texts she stole from Professor Babbling. And at his request, she spent a week searching for any corresponding information about the Fairy People in the Wizarding World. Aside from one text from a not-so-reputable source that cost her more than she would like to remember, there is little parallel between his and her Fairy Folk.

As introverted as the Wizarding World is, surely they must have descended from the same magic source. That no one rediscovered their more advanced cousins in the following centuries speaks greatly to a huge technology gap.

Artemis finds it extremely amusing that the Fairy People, with both magic and science at their fingertips, had chosen "his" way of science over hers. The Stature of Secrecy blocks any advances she could make combining technology and magic in the Wizarding World, not to mention the bigotry and close-mindedness.


	12. Chapter 12

A week before Halloween, Luna falls ill. Long research hours on top of the school work and continuing search for a permanent lab space leaves her exhausted. She is forcibly banished to the Hospital Wing when she falls asleep over a potion and singes her hair. The burns are minor, but Madame Pomfrey insists on keeping her several nights to _deal with a long-term build up of physical and mental exhaustion. Honestly child. _Ginny visits her, and brings some homemade fudge her mother sent her to tide her over until Christmas.

Upon her release from the Hospital Wing, Luna begins intense research of various magical creatures. She locks and wards a dusty, unused classroom and sets up huge charts of the various magical beings and their depictions from each culture. She cajoles the Weasley twins into disclosing the kitchen entrance and meets the house elves, whom she swears into secrecy in exchange for permitting them to clean her new lab.

She spends some pleasant time down in the kitchen, which becomes something of a refuge from everyone but the Twins, and allows her her first independent (and properly run) study of magical creatures. Care of Magical Creatures showcases some amazing creatures, but the way it is run teaches her more about Wizarding relations with other magical beings than anything else. Luna begins to suspect why the Underground Fae had fled when they did from their kindred. Secretly, she sympathizes. She longs to see what the elves and goblin have become, unburdened and free from human ignorance for millennia. She begs Artemis to wait to capture the Fairy until she returns.

_I do not believe we have finished our research_ he replies rather vaguely. _I do not wish for us to leave any avenues of escape unexplored._ It is as much of a promise as she will get from him.


End file.
